Reality
by B.L.A. the Mouse
Summary: What really happened to Beka and Tyr.


Summary: What really happened to Beka and Tyr.

Codes: None

Disclaimer: Tribune owns all rights to _Andromeda_. I just borrowed them for use in my twisted little tale.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: "Tunnel at the End of the Light," "If the Wheel Is Fixed," "Soon the Nearing Vortex," "The World Turns All Around Her"

Feedback: Please! I love praise and constructive criticism, but flames will be used to light Bunsen burners.

Archive: Ask first and I'll probably say yes.

Author's Note: I liked the development of the Beka/Tyr relationship in Season 3, but I despised the way Tyr was villianized, and the Route of Ages arc just drove me crazy. So... reality shifts.

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Reality

By B.L.A. the Mouse

Beka stared at the waves. They were small, not so much crashing as collapsing onto the rocky beach. She shivered, considered heading back. The wind was sharp and cold, cutting through even the thick coat she'd grabbed before heading out of the house.

"Beka! I thought I told you to stay inside!"

"You did, but I was getting claustrophobic." She turned to face Tyr as he slid down the slight slope to the beach.

"Then you could have helped me." Reflexively, he glanced both ways, up and down the beach, as he came to join her. "It's not safe."

"I know, but really, who'd be outside in _this_?" She shivered again, for emphasis. "Besides us, of course."

"I'm only out this far because you are. And doubtless there will be some foolish being that decides to go out in this weather." He gave her a sideways glance. "I thought you liked confined spaces."

"On a _ship_, Tyr, not a planet." She caught the rolled eyes. "Fine, I'm coming." She followed him back to the small path in the trees and they walked back to the house. It was more of a vacation cabin, actually, that they'd rented for a while. It was small, cheap, and secluded, which were the main criteria.

Once they were inside, Beka dropped the jacket and made a beeline for the fireplace. He locked the door behind them and joined her, a moment later, bringing a blanket and dropping it over her shoulders.

"Thanks."

He nodded, rubbing his hands on her arms for a moment. "You're cold. It's not any more than you deserve, going outside like that, but I'm not equipped to deal with hypothermia here."

"It's not that cold." She turned her head to glare at him, playfully, and saw the grin on his face before he turned away. He went over to the stove, coming back with two mugs of steaming something. Sitting down on the sofa, he waited until she sank down next to him before handing her one, and then pulled one end of the blanket around himself. "Why were you outside?" he asked, as she took a sip at the tea he'd given her.

She stared at the flames. Dipping her finger into her cup, she flicked it at the fire and listened to the droplets hiss. "I found another of Trance's love letters."

"What did this one say?" If she cared to look, she knew he'd be examining something unimportant. It had been this way for over a year, since they'd made the deal with the Abyss. Since the Tunnel.

"Apparently, you're dead, and my sanity has come into question."

"I take it our simulcrams are starting to deteriorate. We knew they would, after all."

"Yeah, but this soon? They said that they were worth two or three years." She added, as an afterthought, "See if I ever buy from them again." She glanced over and saw him giving her one of those looks that asked why he'd decided to put up with her.

"Perhaps when Harper interrupted the feed he did more damage than we realized. What happened?"

"You and Dylan were competing over something called the Route of Ages. I decided to side with you. Uh- there was something about an alternate universe that she was vague about. Dylan shot you, we came back, and I was acting very... un-me-like."

"I'm dead and you're insane?"

"Don't worry, you look good for a dead man."

"And you seem remarkably reasonable." He smiled, breifly, obviously wanting to drop the topic. "Are you warm again?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"If it helps, the next... arrangement... is for Infinity Atoll."

Beka smiled ruefully into her mug. "It doesn't, much. I just want to go back to the _Maru_."

"Unfortunately, it would be rather difficult to explain a look-alike stealing your ship. Even if we managed it, Dylan would come after us, convinced that he was on the side of the angels." His tone changed as she winced and shifted to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Your boneblades-"

He had unintentionally extended them, not hurting her- they were far enough apart to avoid that- but poking into her side. She waited as he retracted them. Everyone aboard the _Andromeda_ had been led to believe that they had been lost in the Tunnel; in truth, there had been errors made, that resulted in the loss of the weaponry between making the deal and transferring their simulcrams to the _Andromeda_.

"I apologize. I didn't-"

"It's all right."

They slid into a companionable silence then; they frequently did, out of necessity. There are only so many times stories and news can be rehashed before getting stale, after all.

It had been over a year now: running, hiding, living for scraps of news and Trance's semi-regular missives. They still weren't sure how she found them every time and managed to transmit what should be sensitive information. They'd been slowly watching events unfold and biding their time.

Beka still wasn't totally sure how good an idea it was to go along with the Abyss- she had a feeling, though, that it contributed to Trance's Perfect Possible Future (she always thought that in capitals anymore), or else the golden woman wouldn't have let them go into the Tunnel. After all, she had to have known what would happen. But then again... If Dylan was allowed to build his Commonwealth, give Tyr's son time to grow a little more, give the universe some time before the Nietzscheans all united, it might be a good thing. She never told Tyr that she considered it a good thing to have the Commonwealth and the Nietzscheans be equal powers, to keep each other in check- she thought he wouldn't appreciate that.

She missed the _Maru_. She missed the crew- Harper and Trance and Rommie and even Dylan. It would be a while before they could return to everything they knew, before she went back to her ship and the _Andromeda_ crew, and before Tyr went to join Tamerlane. She only hoped that it was worth it.

****

The End


End file.
